Man and girl killed in Co Antrim crash

A man and a seven-year-old girl have been killed after a car smashed into a tree.

Another two young girls aged five and four are ill but stable in hospital after the accident in Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, shortly after 9am this morning.

The vehicle, a black Ford Escort, ended up wrapped around a tree and the emergency services had to cut the roof off to gain access.

A lorry is believed to have been involved in the collision just after 9am this morning on the Ballyhill Road, Crumlin, and police are at the scene.

The road has been closed to traffic. The driver was aged in his 30s.

SDLP South Antrim Assemblyman Thomas Burns said the carnage was horrific.

“The car looks horrendous,” he said. “There is a damaged lorry at the scene and it is being removed at present.

“I know there are another two children seriously ill in hospital. The front of the car took the whole of the impact.”

The country road is narrow and bumpy but the accident happened on a straight stretch.

“This is a horrendous tragedy so close to Christmas and my thoughts go out to the family, whose lives have been blighted.”